Machine for deheading shrimp



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1949 w. 0. SMITH MACHINE FOR DEHEADING SHRIMP Dec.

Filed June 6, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 v Attorney:

Patented Dec. 20, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR DEHEADING SHRIIVIP William Oliver Smith, Freeport, Tex., assignor, by mesne assignments, of thirty-three per cent to E. R. Bennett, Brazoria County, Tex.

Application June 6, 1947, Serial No. 752,902

7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a machine for deheading shrimps and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements of parts herein described and claimed.

Generally, the invention comprises an apparatus including a hopper wherein shrimps are placed and from which they are adapted to drop one at a time upon an endless belt surmounting which is a pair of guide rails which are adapted to cause the shrimps to assume a lengthwise position upon the belt from which the shrimps drop to a second endless belt. During their passage from the first to the second of such belts, they are subjected to a blast of air which causes them to fall in a head forward position upon the second belt which is also equipped with a pair of guide rails to assure the shrimps movement to the center of the belt in a head foremost, lengthwise position. The second belt is propelled at a sufficient rate of speed so that the shrimps are projected therefrom against a backstop. The backstop as adapted to be moved by the impact of the shrimps thereon to a more or less degree depending upon the weight of the shrimps. At the moment of impact a pair of parallel belts grasp the shrimps in a downward direction against a knife which is adapted to sever the tails of the shrimps delivering the same into a suitable trough or conveyor while the heads are carried downwardly to a second trough or conveyor.

It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide an apparatus whereby the heads and tails of shrimps may be automatically divided and classified.

A further object of the invention is the pro- 1 vision of a novel cutting mechanism.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel backstop for positioning ob jects in a conveyor.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel conveyor mechanism.

A further object of the invention is the provision of novel means for arranging objects upon an endless belt.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an apparatus embodyin the invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 1, and

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown therein a shrimp deheading machine comprisin a platform It! upon which is mounted a conveyor frame II at the upper end of which is mounted a hopper l2 provided with an opening l3 in the bottom thereof. The opening l3 lies immediately above an endless belt 14 which is mounted upon a drive roller l5 at the forward end of the frame and an idler pulley H3 at the rearward end of the frame. The idler pulley is carried upon one end of a lever l1 pivoted, as indicated at 18, to the frame H and interconnected at its other end by a spring l9 to the frame ll.

Carried by the frame II at its upper end is a pair of guide arms which are preferably lined with a metallic substance as indicated at 2 I. The guide arms are supported by brackets 22 immediately over the belt l4 but not in contact therewith. The guide arms are shaped to leave a narrow opening 23 at their forward ends which lie to the rear of the forward end of the belt M. A deflector plate 24 is mounted upon the frame I I immediately over and forward of the roller l5.

Mounted upon a cross arm 25 of the frame II is a motor 26 which is provided with an impeller 21 which is mounted within the larger end 28 of a substantially frustro-conically shaped wind tunnel 29 whose forward or smaller end 30 lies beneath and a little to the rear of the forward end of the belt [4. A second endless belt 3| extends forwardly and upwardly upon the frame H and is mounted upon a drive roller 32 which lies to the rear of the forward end of the belt M and an idler roller 33 at its forward end. The belt 3! is also provided with a pair of guide arms 34 attached to the upper end of the frame H and which are metallically lined as indicated at 35. The arms 34 are supported by brackets 36 and are so shaped as to provide a narrow opening 3'! therebetween slightly to the rear of the forward end of the belt.

Forwardly of the frame I! is a cutter frame 38 which is likewise mounted upon the platform H3. A bracket 39 at the upper end of the frame 38 supports a motor 40 which is connected by means of a belt 4| to a pulley 42 mounted at one end of a shaft 43 which extends laterally and is journalled as indicated at 44 in the upper end of the frame 38.

inwardly of the frame sides and mounted upon the shaft 43 is a pair of pulleys 45 over each of which is trained a belt 46 each of which is trained over a longitudinally extending idler pulley 41 and thence over pairs of like pulleys 48 and 49, which are so mounted as to provide a narrow passage 50 between the belts 46. The belts extend downwardly over pulleys which are similar to the pulleys 4'! and thence to pulleys 52 carried by a laterally extending shaft 53 journalled, as-

indicated at 54, inthe lower end of the frame 38. The belts are adapted to be tensioned by a roller 55 which is adapted to bear against the rear of the same and which is carried by. oneen d. of

an arm 56 which is pivoted, as indicated at 51,

at its other end to a bracket 58: carried by the. frame A spring 59 interconnects the upper end of the arm 55 and the inner end of the bracket 58.

A blade 59 is carried by an upright 60 affixed to the platform It and is so arranged that its cutting.

a pulley l2 carriedintheouterend of a shaft 13 of a motor 1.4. mounted upon a bracket 55 attached to an. arm 'mwhich, i5 pivotally connected to a dog 71, asindicated at, 18-. The upper end of the. arm it. carries the. roller 32' and its associated mechanisms.

A vertically extending shield llil is carried by the frame. 38 centrally thereof: and is provided with rearwardly extending arms 3| to which is pivoted a backstop 32 provided with a spring 83 which is adapted, to, urge thesamein a rearward direction.

In operation, it will. be. seen that shrimps are first placed in. the hopper [2 from which they will be fed by gravity oneat; a time through the opening l3. to the belt M; and thatthereupon they will be forced to assume a position parallel to the belt by means of the guide arms 2c and that they will be prevented from sticking tov the guide arms by the metallic lining 2|. Thereafter they will be forced. to assume a position centrally upon the belt i as they pass through the opening 23 whereupon they will drop downwardly from the forward end of the belt 14 to the rear end of the belt 5i. During their passage from one belt to the other they will be subjected to a blast of air from the impeller 21 which will cause them to fall in a head foremost position due to the fact that the head of a shrimp contains many air intercepting parts. The guide arms 34 will then cause the shrimps to assume a head foremost position parallel to the direction of movement of the belt 3! and, due to the narrow opening 31 they will assume such position centrally upon said belt. The belt 3! is adapted to be moved at a rather rapid rate thus causing the shrimps such as indicated, for example, at 84-, tobe ejected forcefully from the end of the belt 3| against the backstop 32. It will be seen that the heavier the shrimp the greater distance the. backstop will be moved forwardly by theim'pact of: the particular shrimp. At this time the shrimps will be grasped by the inner sides ofthe belts 4B and carried downwardly thereby until portions of such shrimps which project rearwardlylwill. besevered from the remainder of the. shrimp?sbody. and will fall by gravity downwardly into the trough 62 while the head and remainder of the shrimps body will be delivered to the trough 65.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minor modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shrimp deheading apparatus including, in combination, a. hopper, an endless receiving belt horizontally disposed below said hopper and adapted to receive shrimps from said hopper,

. means for centrally aligning shrimps upon the rejectingbelt and; adapted to receive therebetween shrimps projeeted from the projecting belt, means for automatically positioning the shrimps between the conveyer belts, a fixed blademounted adjacent the conveyer beltsfor severing the heads from the bodies of the shrimps carried by said conveyor belt and means for.separatelyreceiving said heads and bodies.

2. A shrimp deheading apparatus including, in combination, a hopper, an endless receiving belt horizontally disposed; below said hopper and adapted to receive shrimps from, said hopper, means for centrally aligning shrim s, upon the receiving belt, an endless projecting belt mounted below the receiving belt and adapted to receive shrimps therefrom by gravity, means interposed between said belts for aligning the shrimps head foremost upon theprojecting belt, a pair of ver. tically disposed coacting conveyor belts mounted: adjacent the projecting end; of the projecting belt and adapted to receive therebetween shrimps pro-, jected from the, projectin-gbelt, means for automatically positioning, the shrimps between the conveyer belts, a fixed: blade mounted adjacent the conveyer belts for severing, the heads from the bodies of the shrimp carried by the conveyor belts and means for separately receiving said heads and bodies, said. means, for aligning the. shrimps upon the receiving belt comprising a, pair of guide armsmountedin close alignment over said receiving belt and shaped to provide. a narrow opening therebetween.

S A shrimp deheading apparatus, including, in combination, a hopper, and. endless receiving belt horizontally disposed below said hopper and adapted: to. receive. shrimpsv from said hopper, means for centrally aligning shrimps upon the receiving belt, an endless projecting belt mounted below the receiving belt and adapted to receive shrimps therefrom by gravity, means interposed between said belts for aligning. the. shrimps head foremost upon the projecting belt, a pair of vertically disposed. coacting conveyor belts mounted adjacent the. projecting. end of the projecting belt and adapted to receive therebetween shrimps projected from the. projecting belt, means for automatically. positioning the shrimps between the co-nveyer belts, a fixed blade mounted adjacent the conveyor belts for. severing the. heads from the bodies of the shrimps carried. by said conveyor belts and means for separately.- receiving said heads andv bodies, said means. for aligning the shrimps head foremost upon the. projecting.

belt comprising a motor-driven impeller mounted in a wind tunnel and adapted to direct a blast of air upon the shrimps in their descent from the receiving belt to the projecting belt.

4. A shrimp deheading apparatus including, in combination, a hopper, an endless receiving belt horizontally disposed below said hopper and adapted to receive shrimps from said hopper, means for centrally aligning shrimps upon the receiving belt, an endless projecting belt mounted below the receiving belt and adapted to receive shrimps therefrom by gravity, means interposed between said belts for aligning the shrimps head foremost upon the projecting belt, a pair of vertically disposed coacting conveyer belts mounted adjacent the projecting end of the projecting belt and adapted to receive therebetween shrimps projected from the projecting belt, means for automatically positioning the shrimps between the conveyer belts, a fixed blade mounted adjacent the conveyer belts for severing the heads from the bodies of the shrimps carried by said conveyor belts and means for separately receiving said heads and bodies, said means for automatically positioning the shrimps between the conveyer belts comprising a vertically disposed yieldably mounted backstop for receiving the projected shrimps, said backstop being mounted adjacent the conveyer belts.

5. A shrimp deheading apparatus including, in combination, a hopper, an endless receiving belt horizontally disposed below said hopper and adapted to receive shrimps from said hopper, means for centrally aligning shrimps upon the receiving belt, an endless projecting belt mounted below the receiving belt and adapted to receive shrimps therefrom by gravity, means interposed between said belts for aligning the shrimps head foremost upon the projecting belt, means for centrally aligning said shrimp in parallel relation to said belts, a, pair of vertically disposed coacting conveyer belts mounted adjacent the projecting end of the projecting belt and adapted to receive the shrimps projected from the projecting belt, means for automatically positioning the shrimps between the conveyer belts, a fixed blade mounted adjacent the conveyer belts for severing the heads from the bodies of the shrimps carried by said conveyor belts and means for separately receiving said heads and bodies.

6. A shrimp deheading apparatus including, in combination, a hopper, an endless receiving belt horizontally disposed below said hopper and adapted to receive shrimps from said hopper, means for centrally aligning shrimps upon the receiving belt, an endless projecting belt mounted below the receiving belt and adapted to receive shrimps therefrom by gravity, means interposed between said belts for aligning the shrimps head foremost upon the projecting belt, means for centrally aligning said shrimps upon each of said belts in parallel relation to said belts, a pair of vertically disposed coacting conveyer belts adapted to receive therebetween the shrimps projected from the projecting belt, means for automatically positioning the shrimps between the conveyer belts, a fixed blade mounted adjacent the conveyer belts for severing the heads from the bodies of the shrimps carried by said conveyor belts and means for separately receiving said heads and bodies, both said means for centrally aligning the shrimps upon the belts including a pair of metal-lined guide arms mounted in close alignment over the belts and each pair of arms shaped to provide a narrow opening therebetween.

7. A shrimp deheading apparatus including in combination, a hopper, an endless receiving belt horizontally disposed below said hopper and adapted to receive shrimps from said hopper, means for centrally aligning shrimps upon the receiving belt, an endless projecting belt mounted below the receiving belt and adapted to receive shrimps therefrom by gravity, means interposed between said belts for aligning the shrimps head foremost upon the projecting belt, a pair of vertically disposed coacting conveyer belts mounted adjacent the projecting end of the projecting belt and adapted to receive therebetween shrimps projected from the projecting belt, means for automatically positioning the shrimps between the conveyer belts a fixed blade associated with the conveyer belts, for severing the heads from the bodies of the shrimps carried by said conveyer belts and means for separately receiving said heads and bodies, said means for aligning the shrimps head foremost upon the projecting belt comprising a motor-driven impeller mounted in a wind tunnel below said receiving belt and adapted to direct a blast of air upon the shrimps in their descent from the receiving belt to the projecting belt and said means for automatically positioning the shrimps between the conveyer belts comprising a yieldably mounted vertically disposed backstop for receiving the projected shrimps, said backstop being mounted adjacent the conveyer belts.

WILLIAM OLIVER SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,064,531 Ott June 10, 1913 1,367,546 Hirth et al Feb. 8, 1921 1,961,009 Nachtigal May 29, 1934 2,340,775 Snyder Feb. 1, 1944 2,416,690 Hardy Mar. 4, 1947 

